Battlin' Beast
Roar of the Beast An explosion rocked the shattered island, causing the ocean to tremble beneath the feat of the two guilds and their combatants. These shockwaves were coming from the center of the rubble, where Jason and Crux had taken the stage. Just the exchange of glancing blows produced enough wind pressure to create miniaturized storms, and it was throwing off the balance of the rest of the match-ups. "Such foul energy..." Rory grumbled, straightening the tie on his suit, "I guess both of our Masters really are like demons when they go at it." He cast Iris an aside-glance; he hadn't been mistaken. The only reason this girl was going to fight him in this moment was because he was going to make no effort to move out of her way. After all, he wasn't her true prey. "Bah, your guy is a pansy!" Iris yapped at him. "Jason'll probably win...because somebody else demands it." Who was this person? It didn't matter. Iris punched her fists together- transforming the bracelets on her wrists into gauntlets which had a golden colour and the shells wrapped around it were red and orange, acting as single barrel shotguns. "Ryuusenga!" This was a Divine Tool, a weapon of immense power created by the one who forged her and Vivian. She put up a fighting stance- with her left hand mimicking a shotput stance- close to her head, her hand in a clawed position, with her right hand extending outwards relatively, her knees crouched slightly- obviously it would remind one of... ...somebody else. "Let's go." Iris shouted to the heavens. "As if I needed your approval to begin a fight," Rory took a stance, thrusting a hand out towards Iris. "Arc of Time!" He focused his magical energy directly on the earth below Iris; fragments though they may be, they were still earth, and he could abuse this. The ground began to increase in heat, before collapsing below Iris, transforming from solid earth to molten lava. Rory had sent the ground below the girl's very feet back into the past, before it was solid, creating lava in which no creature could stand. "Go!" However, Iris punched towards the lava while leaping upwards releasing a torrent of hyper-dense water towards the lava-upon impact, she cooled the water down to ice, freezing it over. It was magic- of course it didn't need an explanation. Now dashing towards Rory, she cocked her fist back- and with a single punching motion, Iris released a blast of pure energy towards the man from the shotgun shells of her Ryuusenga. Waving his hand in the direction of the energy blast, it faded away before it touched Rory; using Arc of Time, the man had sent the blast to a point in its future where it had moved so far it ran out of its own energy and eventually petered out, cancelling the attack entirely. Slamming his fist into the ground, Rory caused the earth to erupt, jutting out from the ground in a manner similar to stalagmite, accomplishing this feat with pure physical strength. Utilizing the Arc of Time, Rory sent these pillars of earth into their past, reversing them to lethal lava within moments. Still carrying on their movements from before, the magma pooled itself towards Iris like a small wave of molten death. "Hmm." Iris began to, yes, think. If she couldn't utilize her own magic because of that time-rewinding magic, then she'd have to mix it up. Charging flames upon her Ryuusenga, as if protecting the fires from the Arc of Time, Iris suddenly cocked her fist back, smashing through the lava with a flying leap forward, punching her way through- aiming towards Rory's head. Rory tried to instill his will on the flames once more, aiming to speed time up to a point where they'd burned themselves out. Yet, he found his influence on the flames to be nonexistent; something Iris had done was shielding her flames from the will of time. The girl's armored fist collided with Rory's face, sending him hurtling into the sea water with astounding force. Crashing through the surface, Rory was stunned as he sunk into the sea. "So she's only gotten stronger in seven years..." He thought to himself as pain rocked through his face. It was only thanks to his own durability that his jaw hadn't been entirely destroyed on impact, and he began to swim to the surface, leaping out of the water before reverting a small portion to a time before it was liquid; freezing it solid and allowing him to stand on the water. "She's crafty, it appears. I'm going to need to do more than simply alter time if I'm going to kill her." Irked with his Time Arcing, Iris decided to try something new. "Re-Raise!" She punched the ground, utilizing her thermokinesis in order to keep the earth in a cooled state that was unable to be changed in any way. Good- this would allow her more freedom. Iris's eyes turned from their usual peaceful hazel, into a chaotic surging glowing green. The one person who brought her back from the brink of despair; the sun to her moon, that person...she had turned into nothing but a dull husk of her former self. Her magical energy surged wildly, as it turned from its regular azure to an ominous emerald; flaring up as to pierce the skies and spread out violently, darkening the stormy heavens. Black, jagged arm blades tore out of her elbows, as her sharp canines showed themselves. "It's time to stop holding back." Her voice echoed; no longer sounding hyperactive, it was deep—more like it was thousands of voices leaving her mouth. Bat-like wings began to erupt from her back. "Shockwave Pulsar." With a single clap of her hands, Iris released a powerful concussion of energy that obliterated the area in front of her. Rory had to agree with Iris; the time for restraining their powers was done. Rory began to expel his magical energy outwards from his body; the red light that escaped began to wrap around his body, forming a translucent, bubbling cloak, similar to boiling liquid. The cloud took a form akin to that of a wolf, complete with ears and a tail; the power itself began to influence Rory's body, elongating his canines into fangs, and nails into claws. His eyes changed their pigment from brown to a vivid crimson. Briefly silent, Rory let out a mighty bellow, expelling raw magical energy that collided with Iris' own blast, cancelling it out. In the confusion, Rory launched himself forward, appearing in front of Iris, slashing his arm forward towards her with enough physical strength to uproot a redwood. SCHWING! In an instant, Iris vanished from sight. Reappearing right behind Rory, she clapped her hands once more, releasing more energy while teleporting into the air with speed alone. Charging flames around her body, she wordlessly crashed down like a meteor impacting upon the barren earth. The energy, while certainly distracting, wasn't lethal; Rory's cloak expanded, forming a sphere of energy that caused the energy to envelop the sphere, being pushed away and deflected. His crimson eyes glared skyward, and emerging from the cloak were a multitude of arms made from the same energy, which propelled themselves towards Iris, slamming down on her from all sides at high speed, covering every possible direction in which she could move. Iris let out a vicious roar, pushing the arms back with relative ease. Her wings fully outstretched, she gathered energy in the tips of the wings, causing them to take the form of blades which shot forth like a tornado, sending two volleys of bladestorms towards Rory, wordlessly. Rory responded with equal fervor, splitting his wolf-like tail from one into two. The aforementioned tails extended, spiraling towards the tornados with a staggering amount of physical force behind them, collided with the bladestorms, creating a clash of energy. The man then slammed his palm onto the ground, forcing energy from his cloak underneath it. Within moments, it erupted from the ground beneath Iris like a geyser, a large arm of pure energy, increased to more than twice the normal size, aimed to envelop her. Iris' wings extended like a bird taking flight- while she was still not swift enough to dodge the geyser- it seemed to propel her into the air. Though it seemed to damage her legs slightly, she wasn't really worried. Circling around Rory for a few moments, she wreathed her body in flames before crashing towards him- her movements seemed to make her invisible to the naked eye. And yet Rory's eye was not naked — his visual acuity was enhanced by the energy that shrouded his body, activating his cells in various ways. Rory thrust his hands in front of his body, expanding the aura around his hands immensely to form a shield in the shape of two-clawed-paws. Iris collided with the palm shield, her flaming body crashing violently into the bubbling, frothing mass. The force of the girl's movement was forcing Rory back on his heels, his fine sunday shoes, immersed in energy that took the shape of clawed paws, ground into the dirt as she pushed him back. Letting out a mighty roar, Rory clapped his hands shut — the energy construct hands followed suit, beginning to slam shut on Iris with frightening speed. Iris too, clapped her hands- "Shockwave Pulsar!" Once more. A...shockwave of energy pulsed forward, dispersing the hands instantly. Iris' wings extended, as she began to emit sonic waves from them- which disrupted the flow of eternano within the atmosphere momentarily. Iris then ascended, her eyes glowing. "Stinger Eye!" In an instant, two beams of crimson shot out from Iris'...irises, towards Rory at sound barrier-breaking speeds. The beams collided with the ground, razing it into a blazing inferno. The impact of the magical energy knocked Rory off his feet; the energy around his expanded again into a circular barrier that cushioned the majority of the impact, but if Rory was to say he wasn't feeling racked with pain, he would be lying. "This girl," He thought, forming true words in his head for the first time since he'd unleashed his full power, "is she even ''human? No. She's something more. This power isn't natural. But then..." He cast a crimson eye towards where Jason and Crux's fight had split the sea, "''none of the Akatsuki are." As the flames roared around him, Rory took advantage of then, creating an arm of pure magical energy once more, and thrusting it forward; the wind fed the flames, causing them to blaze, and manipulating them with magical energy, he thrust them forward towards Iris. With ease, he sent the flames into their future; a future where they had razed to become a raging inferno that threatened to envelop the girl. With the flames blocking her line of sight, Rory extended the energy covering his being and it shot upwards, forming another large hand, gargantuan in size, dwarfing every combatant in the area. Inclining it forward, the hand swung down, crashing towards Iris and the flames that threatened to roast her. Iris suddenly reversed the kinetic energy of those flames. "Ice-Make..." She slammed her fist into her palm, causing a sub-zero chill to radiate throughout the atmosphere. "Frozen World!" An array of mist shot forth, wrapping around the flames and subduing them. BOOM! Iris kicked off like a sonic boom, aiming to nail him square in the gut with her now gargantuan fist. Shocked by the utter freezing of his flames, Rory was helpless to defend himself. His eyes widened large as saucers when the gigantic fist slammed directly into his stomach, sending him hurtling across the ocean like a rag doll. Freezing it with Arc of Time, the man skidded along a trail of ice, regaining his bearings quickly. With a quick assessment, he figured the girl had broken three of his ribs — painful, but not crippling — and he shot forward on all fours across the frozen track he'd created, closing in on Iris and generating a fist of pure energy that he thrust forward at her. WHAM! Rory's fist slammed into Iris' stomach, causing her to roar while stepping back twice. Regaining her bearings, she pushed back, her toothy maw released a searingly hot blast of energy that illuminated the surrounding area. Rory expanded his aura as a protective measure, creating a luminescent, spherical shield that reached out in front of his body, the energy warping around it and parting, leaving Rory unscathed while the ground around crackled and burned, giving way from solid to a near molten state. The girl was a madman. Breathing in, Rory launched forward, running across the molten island fragment without feeling the heat, his paws protecting his hands. Appearing in front of the girl, Rory thrust his knee forward towards her stomach. He had an idea, but he needed to buy time. Swoosh. Iris translocated in the blink of an eye, reappearing beneath the ground. Normally she wouldn't be able to do such an action- but she burrowed through the molten lava as she moved, reappearing underneath Rory. Iris' berserk mode was naturally durable, so she could withstand these things. WHAM! Iris' clawed hand drilled up, unnaturally spinning up to serve as the tool. Leaping from the magma, Iris launched her body down like a rockslide, smashing towards Rory like a cannonball. The blow struck Rory with all the force of a cannonball as well; winding the man, and causing him to fall to his knees. To make matters worse, he'd used more magical energy than he'd anticipated, and his physical condition was deteriorating. Against his will, his shroud began to fade, the bubbling aura seeping up into the air before evaporating entirely. "S-Shit..." The well-dressed man clutched his stomach, his eyes heavy. Feeling the last dregs of energy leave his body, Rory collapsed, using the last of his magic to solidify the ground on which he fell before he knew no more. Iris Lavra had won. END